My Unlikely Best Friend

Chapter 33

The nurse seemed calm and collected; sitting up straight with her face showing no emotion, but I knew that deep down she was worried sick. Who wouldn't be? She sat very still, only blinking her eyelids every eleven or so seconds and didn't peep a word to anyone, not even to Bonnie's parents. She didn't even look at them in their sorrows, it was as if she was trying to keep herself from believing the worst and I don't blame her. She must really love that little girl.

I turned around, not wanting to be brought to tears by looking at her any longer, only to see Katherine embraced by my mother, weeping. She had beautiful, soft looking hair that would reach her collarbone, it was cinnamon colored. Her husband was right next to her, tenderly rubbing her back trying to calm her down. He tried to stay strong, but the worry he had was beating his strength. He had a beard which wasn't too bushy nor too light and wore black Ray-Ban glasses.

“Um, excuse me,” I said softly, causing the couple to slowly turn to me with doleful eyes. Once I saw Katherine's face I realized that she looked very familiar. “You guys... are the parents of Bonnie, right?”

A glint of curiosity shone in her eyes. She slightly tilted her head to the side and sniffled. “How...how did you know?”

“Bonnie and I played together in the hospital's play room the other day,  Remember?” Katherine slowly shook her head with her eyes strained. “She took a bear out of your bag so we could play with it...”

“Wait a minute, hospital...play room?” She thought for a second and then gasped. “Oh, I do remember you! She couldn't stop talking about you even after we left the hospital.” She sad smiled.

“Yeah, you left quite the impression on her,” Mike, her husband said.

“This is your daughter?” She asked looking at my mom and then averted her attention back to me.

“Yes,” she said smiling. “She is.”

Katherine walked over to me and gazed at me with her tender eyes which were slightly red and a bit watery from all the crying she's done. “She's so lovely,” she said rubbing my arms. “What's your name, hun?”

My eyes widened for a second in surprise because I wasn't expecting a complement. I looked down at my shoes smiling timidly then peeped, “Oh thank you... and my name is Dawn.”

“Aw, that's so beautiful!” She exclaimed then hugged me and I quickly hugged her back. I could tell that she was trying to find a way to distract herself from the dire circumstance concerning her ill daughter.

“Where's Bonnie? Are we able to see her?” My mom asked.

“No,” Mike replied wistfully. “The doctor said that they were taking her to a CT scan...to check...and see if anything might've spread,” he said getting choked, unable to force back his tears any longer. Katherine immediately went over to her husband's side, comforting him. But who could possibly be comforted in a time like this?

She kissed his chin and gently wiped away the tears that leaked from his eyes. “But it's okay,” she said at an attempt to brighten the grim mood. “We have high hopes that it hasn't. Maybe... her stomach pain was triggered because she just ate something that she shouldn't have. Nothing serious.”

“How can you be so sure,” I asked genuinely.

“Because last month, during her monthly check up her doctor said that the cancer still hasn't spread anywhere else in her body,” she replied. “We were relived...but it was still on her kidneys and as of now she's getting treated for that.” I nodded my head in understanding and turned my sad eyes toward my mom only to see that she also had the same frightful expression.